15 Secrets Behind The Making Of Alaskan Bush People

Alaskan Bush People is about to release their seventh season of the show this coming January, and it’s hard to believe that the show's been on that long. This past year, there's been a lot of controversy around the show, and that doesn’t seem to be going away. A lot of people are screaming "fake!" now that the show's been on so long. There seems to be a lot of holes cropping up, and people aren’t having any of it. For years, the family that lives in the bush have claimed they're people of the earth and that they don’t want to be part of the outside world, but we’re not sure we believe them. There’s a chance that fame has gotten the best of these bush people, especially since there seems to be more proof that there's a lot of lying going on these days.

Not everyone is on board with the show, though. In fact, there are a whole lot of people who think the show and the cast themselves are just plain creepy. A few Tweets have gone out that have us questioning what the heck is going on in Alaska. “I seriously don’t see how people watch Alaskan Bush People; they are creepy af!” and “Alaskan Bush People – The show about those creepy trench coat-wearing people you were scared of in high school” are just a few examples of what some people are saying about the show. So, is it fake? There are a lot of secrets swirling about the show, and the bush people don’t want you to know about them.

15 Cruelty-to-Animals Allegations

When it comes to fishing, there are already unpleasant aspects about it that some people disagree with. Fishing entails you hooking or spearing a fish, which obviously will cause some level of pain to a fish, but all in all, we’ve all just sort of accepted that it’s what you have to do in order to catch a fish. Well, the bush people seem to have taken the whole idea to another level and gotten themselves into a little trouble. During an episode of the show, “Bear,” Brown was seen punching a fish to death. It shocked people, and there was a rather large controversy around whether or not the family was cruel to animals. We have to guess that the networks felt the same way because since that episode aired, there have been no more episodes that featured the family inflicting any form of abuse toward animals. We’re guessing that they probably received a lot of complaints after the episode was aired.

14 It’s Based on a Book, Not Reality

Billy Brown is the father of the brood in Alaskan Bush People, and he’s regularly under attack. One of the reasons why people are crying fake about the show is that, apparently, in 2007, Billy Brown wrote a book titled One Wave at a Time, in which he talks about his life as a child in the wilderness of Alaska. No big deal, right? Well, at the time, Brown was also shopping the book around to producers to have the book made into a show. At the time, they weren’t even living in Alaska and only moved there to be involved with the production crew "to recreate the journey described in the book." Apparently, the family wasn’t even living there at the time, so their claims to being an Alaskan bush family is a little off. They definitely got a good deal of fame for the book in the end.

13 People Are Screaming "Creepy!" and "Fake!"

Fans and even people who hate the show can’t help but find the wilderness a big creep fest. It’s the thing of horror movies, isn’t it? How many horror movies have been set in the wilderness, and yet, the Alaskan Bush People claim it’s their sanctuary. The woods can be a deeply unsettling place. Thank god for the camera crew that follows them around all the time. The woods can be dangerous for many reasons, especially the fact that there's wildlife there. Many people scream "fake!" because how much trouble can they get into when they have a full camera crew with them at all times? The production crew would obviously be able to help them medically if anyone was harmed, so it’s not like they're true wilderness people. There have to be a lot of staged elements to the show.

12 Close Enough to Get Pizza?

Again, the show is based on a family that lives out in the deep woods, the wilderness of Alaska, but many people believe that’s staged as well. Apparently, the family lives rather close to town, and their so-called “remote compound” is just down the street from a pizza place. So, there’s no need to eat leaves when there’s a double stuffed crust just a few doors down. The Alaska Dispatch-New got some calls from neighbors complaining that the production of the show was a little too noisy. Now, if the family was truly in the deep wilderness, the neighbors wouldn’t have any idea what they were doing. If it’s true that they're that close to the town, then it’s funny that they show the family at times eating fruits and leaves from the woods. Things really aren’t adding up.

11 Stop Sending the Bush People Money

For a while, loyal fans thought that the Alaskan Bush People were poor. After all, we see them basically living off the land, eating leaves and whatever they can to survive. Not only is the show not real, but there's evidence that a lot of it is staged and scripted, which takes it away from Reality TV entirely. Fans of the show were actually sending the family on the show money, thinking they could help them out. Anyone should know that the people on Reality TV are still being paid to be on the show; it’s not like they don’t get any money out of it. The problem is that the show has no disclaimer that it’s fake, so many people think they're watching a true story. Even though the family claims to live off the grid, many people have come forward to say they remember a “white house, very much on the grid.” The truth of the matter is that the Browns aren’t broke, and you can even see that in the clothes that they wear from season to season. Their wardrobe has certainly upgraded over the years.

10 Bush People on Social Media

When people watch the Alaskan Bush People, they assume that the family is acting true to themselves. There are no disclaimers on the show that the family is acting, but they totally are. That’s what has a lot of people ticked off about the show. The family on the show continue to insist that the show is real, but there are things cropping up that are just weird. Throughout episodes on the show, the family makes out like they have no knowledge of modern technology, that they're basically clueless. The problem with that theory is that there are plenty of people who've discovered the family on many social media sites, so the cat is definitely out of the bag. They pretend they don’t even know how to operate the latest smartphone, and yet, we see them editing videos and uploading them to YouTube.

9 Did the Government Really Burn Down the Cabin?

During the first season of Alaskan Bush People, Billy Brown had some specific things to say about the government. That’s usually a dangerous game to play, especially if the allegations aren’t true. When discussing life in the Alaskan wilderness, Brown said that, at some point in their lives, the government burned down their cabin. That’s kind of shocking, and Brown stated that the reason for that was that the cabin was “in the wrong location on public land." Still, even so, that would be a weird thing for the government to do. The problem with Brown’s story is that there's no evidence that a cabin was burned down at all at any point. It looks like Brown may have gotten into trouble for the things he said in Season One because when Season Two came around, he was no longer telling stories about the government. He simply stated that the cabin had burned down mysteriously while he wasn’t at home.

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8 How Their Lies Got Them in Jail

Shockingly enough, a few of the Browns have gotten in trouble for their lies. 2015 wasn't a good year for Billy Brown and his son Joshua. Many fans of the show believe that the family's been living in Alaska for many years, but that’s not the case. When filling out a form for the Permanent Fund Dividend, the two men lied and said that they had been living in Alaska between 2009-2012. People magazine, however, reported that the family was living in Seattle at the time. The two men decided to take a plea deal and had to pay back the $20,938 that was owed. They also had to perform 40 hours of community service and were on probation for four years. The judge, however, wasn’t a fan of the plea deal that they were offered, and the two were sent to jail for 30 days.

7 Noah’s Girlfriend Was an Actress

A smoke show by the name of "Karryna Kauffman" appeared on the fourth season of the show as a girl whom Noah was dating. She wore full-on makeup in the woods, and she was on the show for all of four seasons. Many people were a little suspicious of the girl, as she seemed a little too good to be true. Apparently, the two met while Noah was on a trip, and it was love at first sight. It's been said, though, that the whole thing was staged for the show. It appears as if Kaufman has an IMDb page as an actress and that she also held the title "Miss California 2012." Could the two of them have had a love connection? Sure. Could she have been hired by producers? Also a possibility. She was in and out of the show as quick as could be.

6 Children Are Raised to Not Trust the Outside World

At times, the creepiest part of the Alaskan Bush People is the fact that it can seem like a cult. Many cults don’t like their children to be involved with the outside world, and the Brown family feels very similar about their children. The children of the family, even the ones that grow up into adults, seem to have been raised with the idea that they can’t trust the outside world and need to stick close to their family. They're even discouraged from having their own adult lives independent of the family. Most families want to see their children grow up and become functioning adults, but any talk of getting married always revolves around bringing the new person into their fold at Browntown. That’s certainly creepy, and it makes it awkward to meet someone outside of the community. It would take a special kind of gal to want to live in the deep woods.

5 Browntown Isn't Owned; It’s Leased

Browntown is the little community in the woods where the family lives. Think of the movie The Village, and you'll know exactly what we're talking about. Many people assume that the area is owned by the Browns because that's where they claim to live their bizarre lifestyle. It turns out, however, that Browntown isn't owned; instead, it’s leased. An old employee of the U.S. Forest Service came forward and said that they lease Browntown with a special-use permit. One internet user piped in with some more information on a Channel Guide Mag: “They have a 7-year lease on the PRIVATE land, which is, in fact, owned by relatives of the mayor of Hoonah.” So, the Mayor owns the property and not them. It probably also helps that the mayor makes money off of the show in the area as well, right?

4 It’s Not Really “DEEP in the Wilderness”

As we've mentioned before, the whole premise of the show is that the Brown family lives in the deep wilderness. That is, after all, the whole point of the show. Fans love the show because they get to see people who are actually willing to live in the deep woods because, to most of us, that sounds like a small piece of hell. Chichagof Island is where the Brown family relocated and, oddly enough, The Discovery Channel said that the area was “deeper in the wilderness.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. It turns out that this area is a popular place to go zip lining, and it’s even on a marketing website called Travel Alaska. It’s described as "the world's largest and highest zip line.” Not only does Chichagof have ziplining, but it's also home to "a museum, local arts and crafts shops, restaurants, and a mid-1930s cannery-line display." That doesn’t exactly sound like a place that's deep in the wilderness.

3 They Don’t Live in the Woods

Fans of the show believe that the Brown family is living in Browntown, that every day is a day in the wilderness. They're faced with danger and hard living at all times. After all, that's what it’s like to live off the grid. That’s not the case, though, according to a Facebook group called Alaskan Bush People Exposed. They've exposed the Browns, stating that the Browns are flown in and out of Browntown all the time and that they don’t have a permanent address there. So, where do the Browns live, if it’s not in Browntown? The site that we know as "Browntown" on the show is apparently only used for shooting scenes; they don’t live there at all. These people aren’t roughing it at all, according to the Facebook group. They claim that the family is sitting up cozy at Icy Straight Lodge in Hoonah.

2 Family Cow Just for Show

On the show, there's a family cow named "Sabrina." It’s just the kind of thing you see at farms or close-knit families, the animals becoming somewhat a part of the family. It was a cute addition to the show, but it turns out to be just another lie. In fact, it seems that the family didn’t even know what to do with a cow before Han Wolfisberg came on the scene. He’s the owner of Edelweiss Dairy, and he claims that the cow was delivered to Browntown with his daughter, who "stayed with the family and crew to teach them how to properly care for the prize-winning cow."

"After moving to Alaska, Sabrina would stay with the Brown family for a month, while video footage was shot, before being adopted by an Alaskan local to live out the remainder of her life." Don’t these people realize that their lies will eventually come out?

1 Living on a Yacht

People flipped out when information surfaced about Bam Bam Brown living on a yacht with his girlfriend. So much for roughing it. Many people weren't happy with the Browns and started to call them phonies, first because of news that they were heading to Colorado for the eighth season of the show. The whole point of the show is that the family was committed to living off the grid in the Pacific Northwest. Bam Bam was the first of the family to decide to go his own way, and it seems he has no intention of roughing it any longer. The girl whom he’s supposed to have been living the yacht life with just so happens to be Allison Kagan, a supervising field producer for the show. It was apparently Brown who bought the boat for the two lovebirds. “Josh and Allison first came to look at the boat in November,” said a Radar insider. “He told the owner that he was in the production business.” Oh, the plot thickens! It’s no wonder that people think the show is just a little shifty.